Direct ballot in East Timor to be held on Aug. 7
Direct ballot in East Timor to be held on Aug. 7
JAKARTA (JP): The government has decided to move the scheduled Aug. 8 direct ballot in East Timor one day forward on request of Catholic church leaders in the predominantly Catholic province, Minister of Justice Muladi said on Friday.
Muladi, also the minister/state secretary, said the direct vote would then be held on Aug. 7 instead of the previous scheduled date which had been agreed to by Indonesia and Portugal.
"Aug. 8 is a day off, it is Sunday. We respect the Catholics. So the direct vote will be held on Aug. 7," Muladi said after attending the thanksgiving ceremony to commemorate the first anniversary of President B.J. Habibie's rule at the State Guest House.
He did not explain whether the government had consulted Portugal or United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan before changing the date.
From New York, Annan was quoted by Reuters on Friday as saying that he has asked the UN General Assembly to approve US$45.7 million for the upcoming ballot in East Timor.
Annan expects this figure will increase to more than $53 million, Reuters quoted the report as saying.
Under the supervision of the UN, the ballot in the former Portuguese colony will allow the East Timorese to choose either to remain a part of Indonesia with wide-ranging autonomy or to move toward independence.
Annan asked the General Assembly budgetary committee to approve the $45.7 million for 600 staff members, including 100 UN political officers, 141 field officers and some 400 UN volunteers, who will be assigned to polling centers and also will help register people for the ballot.
The UN also will hire 4,000 local staff.
Annan said he expected the budget would have to be increased by $7.4 million in order to deploy up to 300 civilian police advisers, but would not know until after meeting with the UN Security Council next week.
The additional funds would cover 225 four-wheel drive vehicles, 58 buses and satellite communications.
Some of the money will come from voluntary contributions from governments. So far, $16.5 million has been contributed with another $2.3 million pledged for equipment.
Portugal contributed $10 million and Australia has pledged $6.5 million and said it would lend the UN 12 vehicles and two helicopters.
The UN has sent an advance team, led by Briton Ian Martin, the former head of Amnesty International who has worked for UN human rights teams in Bosnia, Rwanda and Haiti, to prepare for the mission in East Timor.
All staff members are expected to be deployed by mid-June.
Security during the balloting is a key issue because scores of people have been killed in the province, mainly by pro-Jakarta militias, since President B.J. Habibie announced in January his government's willingness to give East Timor its independence.
The UN civilian police are to advise the Indonesian police on how to maintain law and order in the province. Under landmark accords signed by Portugal and Indonesia in New York on May 5, security remains the responsibility of Jakarta.
Horta
Separately on Friday, Antara reported from Lisbon, Portugal, that East Timorese independence leader Ramos Horta, who is deputy president of the proindependence National Council for East Timorese Resistance (CNRT), said he was ready to go to Jakarta to meet jailed independence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, CNRT president and commander of the Fretilin guerrillas.
"I've been ready for a long time to meet Xanana Gusmao. The problem was that Indonesia always rejected my presence. I'm ready to act on the changes of policy imposed by the Indonesian government in order to fight for East Timor's independence," Horta said in a press statement released in Lisbon on Thursday.
He was commenting on the government's announcement on Thursday that Gusmao, who is being detained at a special detention house in Central Jakarta, could meet with senior East Timor independence leaders, including Horta, as long as the meetings took place in Jakarta.
Jakarta's decision was announced by Minister of Information Muhammad Yunus after a closed-door meeting with Xanana at the Ministry of Justice.
According to Horta, he would use the meeting with Xanana to talk about basic concepts regarding East Timor's independence and how to create a peaceful atmosphere in the province.
Asked to comment on Horta's remarks, Portugal-based Professor Felipe Delfim Santos, an observer of East Timor affairs, urged Horta to change his attitude toward Indonesia and stop his anti- Jakarta propaganda.
"Why does Horta continue with his propaganda as if the conflict in East Timor was solely the responsibility of Indonesia? He and his Fretilin (guerrillas) also triggered the civil war in East Timor in 1974-1975, didn't he?" Santos, the director of the Asian Study Center in Lisbon, said. (prb/bsr)